*NEWS*K/MITA NEW DIST. WITH INGRAM MICRO

September, 2005
Document imaging
vendor Kyocera Mita has announced they have entered into a distribution
agreement with the Canadian business unit of Ingram Micro Inc. in order
to expand the distribution and increase sales of Kyocera’s ECOSYS
printers in the Canadian market.

This new agreement marks Kyocera Mita Canada’s entry into the distribution model.

“We have our own warehouse and have been dealing through our
traditional dealership,” said Marco Nalli, marketing manager, Kyocera
Mita Canada. “When we first entered into the reseller market we thought
we could deal on this same level. But we found that the VAR community
is accustomed to using a single ordering screen.”

Nalli noted that while many resellers constantly grumble about distributors, most do prefer to buy through them.

“It’s a double-edged sword. They sometimes complain about distribution,
and feel they are losing margin, but they enjoy the logistics of
distribution. So we are bringing them the best of both worlds, offering
them the benefits of distribution while still maintaining profitability
for them.”

Nalli said that Kyocera Mita has had a stable base of about 60 partners
in Canada, whose business they have been growing. They will be
encouraging them to buy through Ingram Micro going forward, and are
promising that the price resellers pay will be the same price as if
they had bought straight from the vendor.

“We would like to increase our throughput considerably. We believe it
will definitely increase our visibility countrywide. We would be more
than happy to double that amount of resellers.”

Kyocera Mita markets its products as providing the lowest total cost of
ownership, an issue that Nalli stressed. The core of Kyocera’s ECOSYS
technology is a patented long life amorphous silicon (ASi) drum that
allows toner to be replenished in the unit without disposal of the
print drum. This not only cuts down the amount of waste, but also
reduces toner replacement costs by two thirds compared to other
printers. In addition, these long life components result in larger
intervals between service visits, saving money and reducing downtime.